


Nobody Would Love You (Like I Do)

by baekilui



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21795727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekilui/pseuds/baekilui
Summary: Chanyeol believes in soulmates. Baekhyun does not. Chanyeol thinks he will fall in love with someone and stay in love for the rest of his life. Baekhyun has.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 6
Kudos: 87





	Nobody Would Love You (Like I Do)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small, slightly Christmassy friends to lovers one-shot (and yes, it is inspired by Fall Out Boy's Bob Dylan) uwu hope you like it ♥

Baekhyun lights up his cigarette and leans on the wall. People on the street walk past him but no one pays attention to him. When he was younger, places like these made him anxious. He thought all the passing people had their eyes on him and only him. As if no one had better things to worry about than a random stranger on the street. The cold air wraps him around its icy breath, caressing his hair and invading under his leather jacket. Baekhyun doesn't smoke anymore, yet here he is, lighting up an old fellow placed between his lips. 

Quitting was the hardest thing he has ever gone through. At times like these, he wonders if he ever even quit, it's impossible. His first instinct is to light up a cigarette whenever something bad or stressful happens. Only after he takes the first inhale of the smoke, his head goes a little empty, then the guilt washes over him. It's a bad habit and he knows it. Just like now. Only after he puffs out smoke into the night he realizes that, oh, he did it again.

He would have never stopped, he doesn't care about his lungs or possible cancer or the smell, nor his bloodstream weakening, no, all of those seem way too distant and irrelevant to worry about. 

But he had to because his best friend Chanyeol thinks he smells terrible and it's disgusting. That was his only reason to quit, but heck, it's been a good motivator. Chanyeol has often joked about how Baekhyun is going to live alone for the rest of his life since nobody wants a smoker. And he's right. Because the only one who matters to him hates smoking.

Chanyeol has been his best friend for five years now, ever since they met on the first day of college when they were 19 and 18. Baekhyun smiles at the memory and inhales his fag again. He keeps shaking his whole body in cold. The day he met the tall handsome boy, Chanyeol came in five minutes late even though the classes started 15 minutes later than they were said to start. So technically he was twenty minutes late. His hair was pastel pink and a complete mess, he was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie and he practically ran up the auditorium to take a seat, completely unbothered by the stares some gave him. Baekhyun himself came in five minutes early out of pure nervousness.

He sat next to Baekhyun out of the hundreds of seats and before he did anything else, Chanyeol scrunched up his nose and looked at him. Baekhyun had kept an eye on him all this time and he was worried, why does this stranger already think so negatively of him? He was way too self-conscious about the way he looked but next to Chanyeol, he looked so put together in his clean hoodie and groomed brown hair. Chanyeol didn't say anything, just looked away and took his stuff out on the table. Baekhyun couldn't contain himself so he had to ask him,  _ "Why the face?" _ Whenever Chanyeol makes that face now, he knows the reason.

Chanyeol turned to him and kept his nose scrunched. Baekhyun's heart skipped a beat as he saw him up close. He was and still is breathtaking. A face sculpted by gods, big eyes and ears popping under his hair and cute, plump lips that were somehow perfectly kissable. That was a weird moment, given that he was straight. Keyword, was. Now he just doesn't care anymore.

_ "It's just that... I sat next to you thinking I could make a friend, but you smell… Bad." _ He still remembers those words and how confidently Chanyeol said it. And that's where their friendship began, weirdly enough. He remembers clearly what he replied to him as well.

_ "Well, if Princess can't take the stench then he can go sit somewhere else." _

Against all odds, Chanyeol laughed and introduced himself with a dazzling smile. It was weird, he was full-on defensive, and anyone normal would have just left, but not Chanyeol.

Their friendship spiraled from then on, progressed fast since both were new to town and didn't know anyone else.

Now five years later, when both of them got through college and are trying to enter the real adult life with jobs and all, they're still the best of friends.

That's why Baekhyun agrees to go out on Saturday nights to get wasted with him. All because Chanyeol thinks he will find the love of his life from some dirty bar with drunken assholes. Chanyeol deserves better than that. Way better. For some reason he gets extremely angry when Chanyeol is out looking for love. Sure he has often hooked up with both men and women himself, but seeing Chanyeol do it is beyond irritating. He can't stand the idea of someone replacing him and becoming the most important person to his best friend.

He clenches his fists and furrows his brows as the frustration builds up in his body. But he knows he will only make matters worse if he tries to tell him that no, soulmates don't exist. He has tried, but that has never turned out so well. Chanyeol can be extremely stubborn if he makes up his mind.

Baekhyun feels inadequate as a friend at times like these. He should be happy for Chanyeol who keeps looking for love, but he can't. For some reason he just can't. Even if Chanyeol was always happy to see him with a new partner. Even now he went outside when things between Chanyeol and that French buff guy got heated in the bar. He just can't stand looking at Chanyeol with other guys. He wants to punch the guy in the face so hard he can't say another stupid French word Chanyeol seems to be so obsessed with.

He throws the cigarette on the ground and stomps on it. He knows he shouldn't do that, but he's too furious. Then he enters the bar again. Ready to be faced with his best friend being thoroughly handled by another douche.

People are cheering and downing shots like it was the last day of their lives – as if they didn't have to go home afterward and celebrate Christmas with their families and relatives after this. Or maybe they don't celebrate Christmas the same way Baekhyun does. He is not a party person, not at all. He's more of a stay at home kinda guy, sure he loves to have fun, but not in bars. It could be because of all the douches who wanna get in Chanyeol's pants.

He walks closer to where he left his friend, and to his surprise, Chanyeol is still there, but alone. He didn't go with the French guy nor did he look up new people to be with. He looks down and it somehow makes Baekhyun even angrier. But still, stunning as ever, even better than five years ago, he smiles in relief when seeing his friend again. His hair is blonde, styled neatly and of course, he's wearing a party outfit that emphasizes his sexuality. Yeah, he looks like he's not looking for love, but a hookup.

"Where did you go?" He asks, face twitching back to sad from the small moment of happiness.

"Just… Outside for some fresh air."

"Really?" Chanyeol raises his eyebrows and walks closer. Baekhyun is used to Chanyeol coming so close, but his heart never fails to beat a little faster for some reason. He takes a sniff around the shorter one and scrunches his nose. Just like he did five years ago. "If you think that's fresh air then you need to get your nose checked."

Baekhyun raises his arms as a sign of defeat. "Got me."

The disappointment in Chanyeol's eyes tears Baekhyun apart. But he can't lie to him. And what's been done has been done. He can't turn back time and make Chanyeol not make out with the French dude, he can't help relieving stress by smoking.

But Chanyeol stays quiet. And that's not a good sign. Usually, he would make a whole speech about how he's already progressed so much and how disappointed he is. "You okay?" Baekhyun pries, to which the giant sighs and shakes his head. "What happened?"

"Let's just… Go."

Baekhyun grabs his arm before leading him outside the building. "Gosh, he was such a prick, I hate him. What did he do?" The cold air hits them as soon as they step out. Chanyeol is glad his friend understands what kind of a prick his supposed future husband was, even before hearing what he had done to Chanyeol.

"Nothing… Just… The usual." The usual being overly horny and not looking for the same thing as Chanyeol.

"Yeol…. Why do you keep looking for love in places you will definitely not find it?"

"But my psychic told-"

"Psychics are quacks, when will you learn?"

Chanyeol furrows his brows and stops walking, making Baekhyun regret his harsh words. "Baek, for once, can you be more positive and less judgmental?" The air gets thick around them.

"Why would I be positive, when every single guy you've met has screwed you over?" He tries to reason, but he feels bad for his best friend. There they are, fighting in the middle of the streets, the city lights keeping them in the light.

Chanyeol looks down, like he had a heavy weight on his shoulders. "I have to stay hopeful. What if my soulmate just walked past me and we wouldn't even have noticed?"

"Soulmates don't fucking exist, Yeol! This isn't some fantasy world or some movie!" Baekhyun massages his temples after raising his voice.

"You're so pessimistic."

"And you're so naive." Baekhyun stares at his best friend with so much worry in his eyes. It physically hurts him to see  _ his  _ friend get screwed over  _ again and again _ .

But because Chanyeol is Chanyeol, he starts laughing at that. He hasn't changed one bit in these five years. Or maybe a bit, but only more confident and wise. "Oh, Baek. We make the worst pair."

"No, the best pair. You keep me faithful and I keep you grounded," he says with a smile as he links their arms together. Then they start walking along the street together, getting closer to their apartment.

"You're right. I just… I'm so obsessed with finding love."

"You wouldn't see love even if it was right under your nose."

"That's what I'm worried about! What if I never get my happily ever after? For fuck's sake, Baek, we're 24, and no one has ever said the three magical words to me."

"I have. Chanyeol, I love you," Baekhyun quickly says, to which Chanyeol laughs yet again. The warmth of the taller one's body makes Baekhyun feel cozy, he never wants to leave this spot.

He turns to the shorter friend and pinches his cheek. "Aww, you're sweet. I know, and I love you too, but… I mean like… I've never had 3 AM conversations with someone who would rather look me in the eyes for ten minutes straight than say a single word, no one has ever held my hand and smiled at me lovingly, and I've never worn someone else's sweater and smelled it just because it smells like the person I love..."

"We've had 3 AM conversations. Almost every night. Right now it's 1 AM, we aren't far from that. I always hold your hand and smile. And I wear your sweaters all the time, you would wear mine if you weren't so tall."

"Yeah, but you missed my point. It's the stares and the smiles and the scents that matter. Overall the feeling."

Baekhyun stops walking and makes Chanyeol face him. Then he grabs his hand and soothes the skin under his thumb and stares into his eyes with a wide smile.

"What are you doing?"

"All the things you said you've wanted someone do to you."

"But this isn't the same."

"How is it not the same?"

"Because you're my best friend!"

"So? Are you saying my love is fake?"

"No, I'm saying your love is platonic. I want real romance."

Baekhyun sighs and looks away. Christmas lights are dangling from the windows on all the buildings, reminding them that it’s nearly Christmas. But why did that sentence hurt him so much?

"You know… This is really stupid, but…" Chanyeol starts, but decides to drop it. ”Nevermind, it’s embarrassing."

”You already started so you better finish. You know how much I hate it when you do that."

Chanyeol starts swinging their arms as they continue walking. "Promise me it won't be awkward after this."

"Chanyeol, there's nothing that would make anything between us awkward, let's be real. You talk to me on the toilet, you've told explicit details from the first time you had sex. Actually, you always tell me all the details of every hookup and we laugh about it, how no one's as freaky in bed as you are," Baekhyun exclaims rather loud, all the passing people giving them a look. Chanyeol's face flushes. Not many people out here at 1 AM though. "You've cried in my arms and I've cried in your arms about all the shit that life gives us. So I don't think there's anything you could say that would make things awkward between us."

"Yeah, okay, you do have a point… But this is even more awkward."

"Just say it."

"Okay… Well… My psychic-"

Baekhyun cuts him off with a big eye roll and a deep sigh. "If you start with that psychic shit again I'll roll my eyes off."

"Just listen! Please! Thank you!" Chanyeol grunts before continuing. "As I was saying, my psychic told me I'd meet my soulmate on the first day of college and… I… I totally had the hots for you for the first whole year."

Baekhyun stops everything he's doing for the millionth time. It feels like everything just stops, his heart included. At this rate, they'll never get home, but that's the least of his worries. "You've… Liked me?" He blinks slowly as he points to himself.

Chanyeol turns to him with a shy smile. "I mean… Yeah. But you were so fucking oblivious and somewhat straight so I… Gave up on it."

"Wait wait wait. Let me get this straight. You had a crush on me. For a whole fucking year?! And now you're telling me?"

Chanyeol shrugs. "I didn't wanna ruin things between us."

"But if your psychic already told you you've met your soulmate then why are you so obsessed about it?"

"Gotta get the second-best option I guess."

Baekhyun bats his eyelashes and tries to make it make sense. "So you don't believe in soulmates? Because that's not how it works."

"Of course I do. I just hope that my psychic was wrong. Or maybe I've never met him, I mean, nobody said it was you. You know, I might be superstitious but I'm not stupid."

Baekhyun bites his lower lip as his heart starts beating rapidly. He remembers that one time Chanyeol made him go to his psychic. He thought it was a scam, so he didn't think much of it. "You know what she said to me?" Chanyeol raises his eyebrows as a sign for him to go on. "She said I've already met mine. She said I'm the closest to him right now."

"But you don't believe in this crap."

Baekhyun furrows his brows as he's completely focused on Chanyeol's lips. How kissable they've always been, but how he's never taken the bait, never paid much attention to them. "I don't." He stands right in front of Chanyeol. Everything seems to be falling into their place. He now understands why he was always so angry when seeing all the people shove themselves down Chanyeol's throat. Why he's always been so protective of him. "Are you saying you got completely over the thought about me being something more than just a friend?"

Chanyeol bites his lower lip and gets slightly tense. "I… Honestly don't know. I tried to forget about it, so I haven't really..."

They are standing so close to each other he has to bend his neck a lot to look at Chanyeol in the eyes. He keeps smiling.

Why did he never notice the look Chanyeol has when looking at him? Why did he never notice the way he used to openly flirt with him? He just thought it was all a joke, never anything serious. "What are you thinking about?" Chanyeol dares to ask.

He squints. "The past five years. The first day we met and every day after that. The day we moved in together. The parties we went to. All the people that ever asked us if we were a couple… Really, Chanyeol. Why are we not dating? How is our platonic love any different than real romance?"

Chanyeol bats his long eyelashes. He has mascara on, the kind that makes his eyelashes appear even thicker and longer. His eyes have always been the prettiest part about him, and he sure loves playing with different makeup. "Are you saying that you'd wanna date me?"

"We're technically husbands already. Chanyeol," he says as he takes his hand in his. "You keep looking for love but won't see it even if it was right under your nose. Literally."

"Hey, don't blame this on me, you never realized I have a crush on you." He didn't use past tense, which makes Baekhyun's heartbeat pick up its pace. He can feel Chanyeol's heart beating fast as well. "But before we do something we end up regretting, I have to ask you. Why were you smoking just now? You quit ages ago, why do you still own that garbage?"

Baekhyun purses his lips to a thin line before answering. "I thought it was obvious. I smoke when I'm stressed or upset. And you have no idea how much it kills me to see you with other guys. I want to kill everyone that does you wrong."

"See, that's exactly the kind of talk that would come out of a best friend's mouth."

"But would a best friend be extremely jealous of all the douches you make out with?" Baekhyun shoots at him. 

For a while, they stare at each other without saying a word. It feels like the world has stopped as they take a deeper dive into each other's souls, listening to all the unsaid words they have going on inside their minds. Everything just makes sense.

"You should've told me four years ago. Maybe I would have realized my own feelings sooner."

Chanyeol shakes his head. "It took you five years to sort out your own thoughts. Your initial reaction would probably not have been great if I had told you sooner."

"You know me so well. Seriously, why aren't we married yet?"

"There's only one thing that would make me sure about everything right now," Chanyeol says as he licks his lips instinctively.

Baekhyun takes in a deep breath and places his hands on Chanyeol's waist, pulling him close. Somehow nothing feels awkward with him. He's used to all the touches and closeness and everything he says, yet his heart feels like it's going to jump out of his chest. Then he dares to open his mouth to ask. "Can I kiss you?"

Chanyeol doesn't reply with words, even if in the name of consent that's something he does first, but not with Baekhyun. He just leans down slowly, like a magnetic field, their lips brush against each other.

And everything in the world feels right. Baekhyun deepens the kiss, slowly, tenderly, brushing his tongue on Chanyeol's lips. Everything in his head goes silent, every thought dies out, nothing matters anymore. He can't think, he just goes with the feeling, sucking on Chanyeol's lower lip and moving in sync with him.

None of the people he has kissed before compare to this one. Not one. No one has ever had this type of chemistry with him.

They part and somehow Chanyeol is out of breath. It wasn't that intense, he just can't seem to breathe. "I… I never imagined you to be such a good kisser. But are you… Are you sure this won't make things awkward between us?"

"Yeol," he starts as he raises his hand to brush Chanyeol's slightly tinted cheek with his thumb. "You said you want someone to love you. And nobody would love you like I do. Forget the past and don't think about the future. That's what you always say."

Chanyeol smiles to him, his hands on his neck. "Never listen to my philosophy, it's always bullshit. I don't wanna forget the past because you're in it, but I also can't not think about the future. Do you think we can tell mom this Christmas?"

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows but doesn't stop smiling. "Are you kidding? She's been calling me your boyfriend since the day she saw me."

"Yeah, it would be her Christmas miracle."

"Okay, on one condition. You stop seeing that stupid psychic."

Chanyeol would like to point out that she was right on this one, but decides to nod. "Fine. But you also have to quit smoking for real. I don't wanna kiss an ashtray."

"It's a deal."

They start walking again, giggling at drunk Santa Clauses walking past them and holding each other's hands as if their lives depended on it, stopping to kiss under every mistletoe on the way home.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!! ♥


End file.
